Pandemic

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: What ethical dilemmas might a pandemic give rise to?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• halt
• subsided
• dubbed
• mutated
• understaffed
• solace

3. Engage
Ask: What does the word pandemic mean? What images, thoughts, and feelings come to mind when you hear the word pandemic? Have you always had these associations? Why or why not?

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the flu pandemic of 1918. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• Where did the 1918 flu pandemic start? Where did it spread? When and why did it end? (Though people at the time thought of it as the Spanish flu, experts now think it started at an Army base in the U.S. The flu spread around the world, infecting about 500 million people and killing about 50 million. It disappeared in the fall of 1918—partly because of herd immunity—reappeared in the winter and spring of 1919, morphed into the common flu, and then died out.) 

• How did World War I affect the spread of the flu? (World War I had a two-fold effect on how the flu spread. First, the war effort put many people in close proximity to each other—at Army bases and in factories—which facilitated the spread of the flu. Second, to keep morale up during wartime, many officials downplayed the threat of infection, which led to people not taking certain protective precautions, such as not canceling the Liberty Loan parade in Philadelphia.)

• What steps did officials take to stop the spread of the flu? What steps didn’t they take that you think they should have? (Officials closed schools and other gathering places to stop the spread of the flu. Officials in some areas also required people to wear a mask. Answers for what officials should have done will vary but should be based on the text.)

• The article says that some positives came out of the 1918 flu pandemic. What are they? (The positives include: changes in attitudes about who is susceptible to disease; a greater focus on health care, including the formation of national health care systems and the World Health Care Organization; and an increase in the study of infectious diseases.)

5. Use the Primary Sources

Project or distribute the PDF A Letter From Camp Devens (or assign it in Google Classroom), which features excerpts from a letter written by a doctor about the conditions he faced while treating flu patients at an Army base in 1918. Discuss what makes the letter a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of these excerpts from Roy’s letter? (The tone can be described as direct and cautionary. The purpose is to inform a fellow doctor about what he might encounter at Camp Devens.)

• What are the main ideas of paragraphs 2 and 3? Which details support these main ideas? (The main idea of paragraph 2 is that this flu is extremely contagious, deadly, and unlike anything that Roy has seen before. Details that support this main idea include: “has developed so rapidly,” “It is only a matter of a few hours then until death comes,” and “a new mixed infection.” The main idea of paragraph 3 is that an extremely large number of people are dying from this flu. Supporting details include: “the bodies piled up something fierce” and “an extra long barracks has been vacated for the use of the Morgue.”)

• What does Roy compare in paragraph 3 in the sentence that references France? What does this emphasize? (In that sentence, Roy compares the pile of dead bodies due to the flu at the Army base to the number of dead bodies soldiers might have seen in France after a battle. He makes this comparison to emphasize the large number of people who were dying from the flu.)

• Based on details in the letter, why do you think Roy is convinced “there is a new mixed infection here”? (Roy seems shocked by how quickly people die from this flu and by how many people are dying from it. He uses descriptors such as “what appears to be an ordinary attack” and “very rapidly develop the most viscous type . . . ever seen.” His purpose for writing the letter, to warn a friend, also helps explain why Roy thinks this is a new type of infection.)

• In the Upfront article, Laura Spinney says “I’m often struck by how ancient this [current] pandemic feels.” Based on the article and Roy’s letter, do you agree that the Covid-19 pandemic is similar to past pandemics? Why or why not? (Responses will vary, but students should cite text evidence.)

6. Writing Prompt
Based on what you read in the article about the 1918 flu pandemic and your experiences with Covid-19, what is the most important lesson we can learn from pandemics? Explain in a brief essay.

7. Quiz
Use the Test Your Knowledge quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Should people be required to wear masks during pandemics of respiratory illnesses?

9. Film as Text
Ask: What would you expect to happen in a movie about a pandemic? Have different groups watch different pandemic movies (e.g., World War Z). Have groups share plots and discuss commonalities, why they think these tropes are common, and what this reflects about society.